Hand Tool Basics: Woodworking Tools and How to Use Them by Steve Branam

Steve Branam promotes the experience of crafting something truly handmade and takes perplexity out of hand tools. In these pages, hand tool woodworking is a source of great pride, satisfaction and amazing results–not to mention less noise and sawdust. Readers are taken through the shop and tool set-up, from the endless array of chisels and mallets to workbenches and handplanes. You’ll learn proven methods for sharpening your tools, prepping your stock and timeless joinery techniques including mortise-and-tenon joints, dovetails, rabbets and others. Within these pages you’ll find advice for selecting the tools you need and setting up shop, complete instructions for using the tools you reach for time and again, tuning processes for keeping your tools sharp and precise, and technique variations and alternate methods so that you can decide what works best for you in your own shop.

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The Perfect Edge

"... makes his new book 'The Perfect Edge' one that should not only be read cover to cover (multiple times), but owned and consulted regularly by any woodworker who is serious about his craft, and/or works with edged tools and/or likes their tools working at an optimum level... The book is beautifully presented, and absolutely jam-packed with well presented information... This is the bible on sharpening... If you but remember a fraction of this book, and put it into practice, your tools will be deadly sharp, and a pleasure to use." -- Stuart Lees